


No more Lanterns

by MijumaruFan



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Cinematic Universe, DCEU, DCU, Justice League (2017), Man of Steel (2013), Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: I Tried, One Shot, Other, Panic Attacks, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:37:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14085102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MijumaruFan/pseuds/MijumaruFan
Summary: We follow Jessica reacting to the events of Superman's death, will she make it to his memorial? And what will she find there? (This started as a Justice league AU one shot but now its just a full on dceu one shot.)





	No more Lanterns

Pitter patter pitter patter

The rain falls upon this place constantly, the sun does not shine on this place anymore.

Ever since that day...

Her family used to call her crazy when she attempted to make a shelter for the end of the world but then it happened. Not once, not twice but three times technically but mostly in Metropolis. The first was cataclysmic almost unimaginable, she'd heard the reports over the radio in her apartment. That was when her family had run to her when the Kryptonians had attacked. They feared they would come to their city and destroy all they had. So they hid after telling her for so long that she shouldn't hide from the dangers of the outside world. The second was in Midway City which the details were still muddled in rumors and cover ups but the people knew it was something big that went on in that city.

Now everyone was starting to realize its dangers with Superman gone and the thought of another alien invasion without him here was terrifying! It was a constant discussion on the radio these days even when not months ago people were asking "Does the world truly need a Superman?"

She thought so. Despite her fear of the outside, his heroics sounded like there was hope out there even for someone like her who was stuck in her apartment for almost four years!

"Superman is....dead..."

The words she heard were unbelievable! How could the strongest man on earth be dead, it just couldn't be! She was glued to her radio for hours hoping to hear something different, hoping to hear of his return, anything!!

But it never came the only thing she heard was despair. It had seemed the world fell into chaos without him. The world turned into what she feared most.

Pitter patter Pitter patter

The world was so gloomy without him, almost lifeless. She hadn't realized the impact he had laid on so many people including herself... She wanted to hear of his heroic actions again, hearing witnesses exclaiming their excitement in seeing him! People he had saved exclaiming there love for him.

That was when she had started thinking of going outside...

Everyone all around the world was honoring Superman, the military gave him a soldiers funeral, canons and all, laying the American flag upon his casket. She wanted to give him thanks too even if it was in death or for something as silly as making her feel hopeful.

It was a stupid idea.

But she wanted to do it! Each day she stared at the door as if it would open on its own and guide her outside.

Months had passed after his death.

Pitter patter Pitter patter

It was storming outside.

She still sat near her door, radio right next to her although she hadn't turned it on in weeks. There was most likely still nothing but hopelessness and fear on it, she knew it.

"Its never going to change..." She curled up on herself, back against the door hearing nothing but raindrops and thunder. It felt almost constant.

She sat there a long time listening to it, hearing it fall into puddles.

Pitter patter pitter patter

She rummaged through her things, finding a gray hoodie, jeans, and her sneakers.

Today was the day.

"Today is the day I go see Superman." She pulled the hoodie over her head and started for her barricaded door.

She breathed in quite a few times. "Alright, alright. I can do this. I can do this." She repeated to herself over and over despite not believing it. Her hand laid upon the metal latch she had on her door it stretched across the whole door, one of her many locks. Her fingers tapped anxiously over it for a long moment...

"You know maybe I could go tomorrow? Its raining again today it wouldn't be the best weather to go out into anyways." It really was pouring she could clearly hear it from her spot near the door.

She shook her head. "No, no no no no! If I don't do it today I'll never do it!! I'll just keep saying tomorrow with a different excuse! I-It has to be today!"  
With all her determination in that moment she lifted the latch!

Now for the other four locks...

Pitter Patter pitter patter

She made it.

She really made it out the door!

Her arms were wrapped around herself, standing outside her open door in the quiet hallway. It was a grand but small victory!

"I did it." She said quietly, bouncing on her feet. "I really made it now I can go see Superman in Metrop-" She stilled at that moment realizing something. Something important.  
She had no money. Which meant she had no clue how to get to Metropolis! "I can't go on foot in this weather and I-I really don't want to call my sister! God I'm so STUPID!! Stupid! Why didn't I think about this beforehand!?" She felt like crying, she spent all that time mulling over how to go see him and opening that door all for NOTHING!

Pitter patter pitter patter

She stood there crying like a fool. It felt like she got punched in the face by reality for even daring to step out of her own door. "I should of just stayed inside my apartment...I wouldn't of lasted out there long anyways." She rubbed her face on the shelve of her hoodie. It was already wet and icky...

That was when she noticed a strange green light shining through the door of the stairways. "What the hell is that?" She was tempted to look but it might of just been a kid with some light up toy in the halls. But it looked like it was...getting brighter...closer...

"I think its time I go insi- **AAAH!!** " Whatever it was it busted through the staircase door, making a strange sound and filling the quiet hallway with its blinding bright green light!  
She ran! She ran screaming with her eyes closed, hitting the side of her door scrambling to get it closed again!

Pitter patter pitter patter

She could practically hear her heart beat in her chest it was awful. She felt sick, tired, SCARED and confused all at the same time! What was that!? Her hands frantically checked all over her body! "Okay everything seems to be there..." She sighed in relief at that, at least today couldn't get anymore weird than this.

" **Jessica Cruz.** "

"Huh?" She looked around her apartment hearing her name from a strange voice, had someone gotten in here while she had a breakdown outside!? That was impossible she would of noticed right!?

" **You have the ability to overcome great fear.** "

That's when she noticed the bright light on her finger.

"Jessica Cruz. You have the ability to overcome great fear." The ring as she saw more clearly now repeated. It kind of sounded like those bots she used to hear on the phone. Maybe she could ask it questions like she could with those bots? Hopefully it didn't take just yes and no...

"Um...What are you exactly? And how do you know my name?" Oh god she was speaking to a shiny ring, it was bad enough she had a habit of talking to herself...

"I am a Green Lantern ring. From Oa. I was designated to a lantern in this sector 2814. That Lantern has passed and now you are there replacement."

"Wait wait replacement? And what do you mean they passed? Are they DEAD!?" Forget the other weird stuff it had said someone died with this thing! "I don't want to do anything dangerous!"

"You are the current protector of this sector. You have been chosen for overcoming-"

"Yes yes great fear yeah I heard you the first time!" She interrupted the little thing before it could spout that lie again! "What did I even do to warrant that!?"

And the ring gave her the most ridiculous answer. "You overcame a great fear with your own will."

She took a deep breath. "Okay okay I have another question." The ring seemed quiet despite its light fading in and out as if waiting for her query. "What exactly do you uh do to help me protect a sector? If I agree that is. Can I tell you no and you'll go away?"

"A green lantern ring is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. You will use your will to make constructs you imagine. You will also be fitted with a uniform and force field in order to protect you. You may **not** decline."

She sighed disappointingly, hands falling to the top of her knees. "So I'm stuck with you is what your saying?"

"Yes." It replied simply clearly not knowing it was not wanted here.

She groaned, letting her head hit the closed door with a 'thunk'. "How did this happen to me?" Jessica closed her eyes while her head leaned upward listening to the rain.

Pitter patter pitter patter

"Wait..." Her head slowly rose from its position as she looked down at the ring on her hand. "You said I can make stuff with my 'will'. Like a car or a plane?"

"Yes." It simply answered again.

She hummed getting her hopes up, maybe just maybe. "So I can make a plane and fly anywhere I want?"

"You don't require a plane to fly."

"Explain please ring."

"Once I equip you with a uniform. You will be given flight capabilities."

She gawked at the little ring. "So you just didn't think that would be important to tell me first?"

"You didn't ask."

This little ring had an attitude!

Alright that wasn't important right now! This was her free ticket to see Superman and she could avoid crowded spaces with it to boot! It was perfect!! Now all she had to do was figure out how to fly and she could go anywhere!

She stood up from her seat at the door, pushing her hand out before her face to see the ring in all its glory. "Okay I'm going to head outside and your going to teach me how to fly to Metropolis!"

"Affirmative."

Pitter patter pitter patter

She was soaked as soon as she stepped out of the door of the apartment building into the heavy pouring rain, running to the back where no one would hopefully see or notice her.

"Ring can I have that shield now I'm getting drenched!" She waved her hands and sleeves dispelling excess water into puddles watching it ripple around her.   
The ring said nothing back to her for a long moment as the rain continued to douse her, she started feeling really cold standing out here like this.

That's when it stopped.

Jessica put her hand forward feeling nothing fall into them, she could still hear the rain and see it making ripple after ripple in the puddles around her. She finally looked up to see a translucent green light covering her, protecting her. Her hoodie fell from her head as she looked up through her small green window at the dark grey clouds shifting and raindrops hitting and streaming downward from the top of it to the side as if it was a window shield.

"Wow." Was all she could really say at that moment, it was unbelievable really. Maybe she could actually feel safe outside with something like this...

Then Jessica realized again without thinking any further, she had to fly through that!

Pitter patter...

The first fleeting feeling of her feet leaving the ground was both terrifying and...exciting, her gaze stayed upward looking at the stormy clouds above her. Was she really willing to fly through the sky just as Superman did just to see his grave? Just to thank him for all his good deeds when many others had thanked him more properly than she ever could.

" **Will fading...70%** "

Jessica shrieked as she plummeted too close to the ground, somehow holding herself inches from the ground slowly descending back into a medium sized puddle with a small spatter. Her breath felt stuck in her chest yet she could feel herself panic at the prospect of almost falling to the ground from such a height.

"I can't do this!" She found herself instinctively curling herself into a ball as the rain skimmed over her, seeing her own distressed face reflected in the puddle beneath her. "I-I'm not strong enough!"

And then she thought of him, of Superman flying through the sky in poor quality videos she'd seen on her phone before it got permanently turned off. She wondered if his first steps towards flight was this difficult, if he was scared or worried like she was...

She closed her eyes and imagined the way he knelled before preparing to fly mimicking his movements, her right fist settling into the puddle. She breathed out thinking of that incredible sonic boom he would create while flying upward it always shook her to her very core hearing it through her earphones.

" **Will spiking.** " The ring said but went unheard by Jessica as she thought of those last few days she and many others last saw Superman in the media. Her will spread pushing the water around her fist upward as if time stilled around her hand.

She remembered when he flew from a burning building, a girl in his arms descending upon the people of Ciudad Juarez, how they cleared the way for him taking their hats off in respect to him, as they all reached out to touch him.

_"We as a population_ _on this planet have been looking for a savior, 90% of people believe in a higher power and every religion believes in some sort of messianic figure and when the savior character actually comes to Earth we want to make him abide by our rules. We have to understand that this is a paradigm shift. We have to start thinking beyond politics..."_

She shot up fast, the sky was coming at her quick as she put her arms forward shooting for the sky like a speeding bullet.

_"...Are there any moral constraints on this person we have international law on this earth every act is a political act!"_

She flew up above the dark gloomy clouds to see sunshine, and an expansive blue sky! It was a breathtaking view. Unlike anything she'd ever seen!

_"Is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy?"_

_"To have an individual engaging in these state level interventions should give us all pause."_

She couldn't help but look down at the small hole she'd made in the the clouds, that was proof that she had flown up here in the sky. "Maybe I could actually make it?" Jessica said absently looking at the shining ring on her hand. It was then that she noticed she had some sort of white glove on her hand now.

_"Human beings have a horrible track record of following people with great power down paths that led to huge human atrocities we have always created icons in our own image what we've done is we projected ourselves onto him. The fact is maybe he's not some sort of devil or Jesus character maybe he's just a guy trying to do the right thing."_

"This must of been the uniform the ring talked about." She balled up her hand into a fist, watching the energy practically emanating from her ring. "Maybe if I imagine I'm flying like Superman again I can make it...?"

_"We're talking about a being whose very existence challenges our own sense of priority in the universe you go back to Copernicus where they've restored the sun in the center of the known universe displacing earth and you get Darwinian evolution and you find out we're not special on this earth we're just one among other life forms and now we learn that we're not even special in the entire universe because there is Superman. There he is an alien among us. We're not alone."_

Pitter...

Her flight to Metropolis was shorter than expected apparently she was going way faster than she thought. The ring had told her Green lanterns could fly faster than light with the help of the manipulation of anti-gravitons and directed molecular movement by creating an aerodynamic envelope around the users body. She had no clue what that meant but it sounded cool.

She flew above the buildings in the city, marveling at how tiny they looked below her. Was this how Superman viewed the world?

Jessica landed in an alley after spotting the memorial, Her suit receding back into the ring. "Convenient." She smiled and pulled her hoodie up over her head and walked to the memorial. In the rain. Again.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

The memorial was vaste, the three reflecting pools along with the untouched rubble and the four large destroyed tablets from the Doomsday incident made what she watched on her phone feel all too real.

Superman really was dead.

The rain continued to pour even worse than in her own town, it seemed to mirror the mood of the few visitors who had come here.  
She walked up the path noticing a young woman in a petite coat with a black umbrella leaving the memorial walking right past her with her head down. Maybe she had lost someone during one of the incidents?

She stopped midway watching a young black man leave something under the many flowers, pictures, teddy bears, and items with his symbol on them. She stood there for a long moment looking at all the things people had left for him, people who cared about him, for what he did while he lived.

As he left she saw Superman's symbol on his worn jacket.

Now it was her turn.

Pitter patter pitter patter

Her steps felt loud while walking up to the memorial as if everyone in Metropolis could hear her step up too it. The severed head of the Superman statue that once stood tall in this capital now soaked in rain, damaged on the ground. The destruction of the steps was even more impressive and scary up close.

That's what that monster did...

The small temporary fence covered in memorabilia kept her from getting any closer.

That's when she heard another set of footsteps.

She looked to her right to see a very tall rough looking man in a black coat with an umbrella over him and roses in hand. He also looked kind of tired...he seemed still like a statue looking upon the memorial almost as immersed as she was but somehow even more so than she could fathom.

When he suddenly turned to look at her, Jessica was surprised so much that she took a step back. "You seem to be staying dry in this weather?" He said quite casually to her turning his attention back to the site.

Jessica looked at him puzzled by what he said until she looked at her hand. "Uh..." That was when she noticed her shield was still protecting her. She quickly hid both her hands and the shining ring into her pocket, trying not to look too suspicious. It was most likely too late he'd already noticed and in actuality he didn't really seem to care. Which concerned her more.

"Your here to pay tribute to him?" He asked not looking back at her as he seemed to look toward the sky.

She shifted lightly stepping back to her original spot in front of the memorial, looking towards the sky she just flew through. "Yeah in a way...but I didn't bring anything unfortunately just my thanks and hope." She wasn't exactly sure why she was telling this stranger this but it just seemed right to say at this place.

Jessica heard the stranger rustle with the plastic that wrapped around the roses he brought and extended his hand with one single rose too her. "That's all he ever truly wanted from us." She took the rose and placed it next to the very wet teddy bear, while she knelled she looked back up at the man. "How do you know that?"

"Because that's what any hero really wants." He simply said.

She hummed in agreement letting the rainfall fill the silence between them. She couldn't help but remember all those people against Superman at the Capital calling him an illegal alien and other horrible things and even after its destruction he still helped all those survivors.

"The world needs Superman."

"I agree with you kid." Kid? Who was he calling kid? "But the world also needs heroes, strong heroes..." He kept his sights to the skies as he said this too her. "Like him." He sounded really distant when he said that last part.

"I'm putting together a team of people with special abilities. See, I believe enemies are coming..." He said suddenly while finally putting the bouquet of roses down.  
"And you want me? Why? I'm not strong like Superman..."

After placing the roses down he stepped closer to her putting the umbrella over her slightly, which she noted was pointless with her shield keeping her dry. "Neither am I compared to the rest of my team strength wise. But there's more to being strong than super strength and technology. Its about having the strength to stand for something and give people something to hope for."

"Also." He started off again. "I've seen alot of strange things in my time. But that..." He pointed at her green ring. "Is a game changer."

**Author's Note:**

> This was mostly for a poorly thought out theory I made in 2017 that Green Lantern would be in JL then it turned into a fic for BvS second anniversary since I took alot of inspirations from it aswell as MoS. So Happy (early) 2nd anniversary BvS!! (3/25/16)  
> Now for the actual notes:  
> \- Now my first theory actually had Jessica fighting Parademons to protect her sister and then she would earn the ring. But I kind of thought it'd be a nice difference if she gained it through a small victory like leaving her apartment instead of you know almost dying or something since it just came to Hal for simply being fearless. I felt since the dceu focuses alot on hope and inspiration it'd be good to show Superman's impact on her and how it pushed her to move forward not only as Green lantern but as a person.  
> \- Also I'd like to thank wiki. I didn't think of that aerodynamic stuff on my own so thank whoever wrote that on there.  
> link: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Lantern_Ring   
> \- I also took alot of inspiration from Superman's first flight for her own, you could probably tell and I mixed it in with that part in bvs with the news speaking of him to kind of show what he inspired in a person.  
> \- Also thought I'd add this because it might be confusing I kind of made it sound like she could her the rain through her building mostly based off my own since the walls are thin here. And I can hear the rain through my window and my living room so I guess that's a fun fact in itself.  
> Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
